1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to computer driven printers and more particularly to a hand held multi-language business card printer for printing business cards on demand.
2. Description of Related Art
The practice of business travelers to have their business cards printed on two sides is known. On one side, business identification information is printed in the native language of the owner of the card. On the reverse side, the same information or equivalent is printed in a foreign language. Even with advance planning, such as when having English and Japanese cards pre-printed prior to a trip to Japan, occasions arise in which one encounters an individual from a country for which a pre-printed language is not available. Other times, occurrences arise in which travel itineraries change, placing one in a country unexpectedly.
The Problems
The two-sided printing of the prior art does not solve the problem of having business cards in a correct language for a variety of languages. It also fails to address the situation where a traveler fails to recognize the need for a card at all in advance of an actual encounter. Also, the prior art does not address the situation in which an international traveler meets with individuals from a variety of countries at international conventions.
The present invention provides apparatus, systems, processes and computer program products which enable on-demand, multi-language business card printing.
When a native language version of a business card is prepared, it can be sent off to a translation service where an appropriate number of translations of the native language card can be prepared in respective foreign languages. These can be returned to the client of the translation service for incorporation in a business card printer.
The on-demand, multi-language business card printer is a portable hand held device which can be loaded with a plurality of language versions of different card types. One card type might be social. One might be business and another an outside business such as a consulting operation. A native language version of each card type can be prepared and corresponding translations of the native language version can be provided and stored in the on-demand, portable multi-language business card printer. Once loaded in the printer, an appropriate language selection can be made for each of the corresponding card types and the proper text will be printed in the language selected on the reverse side of a business card.
The invention also provides for double-sided card printing where the text in one language is on one side and a text in a different language is on another side.
Different versions of the invention permit somewhat different functionality. In one, the card is fed in one end of the device and ejected from the other end after printing. In a second, a stock of cards is contained within the printer housing and selectively printed as requested.
In one embodiment, languages and card types are selected by respective sliders and the language applied to the business card is the language selected. In another embodiment, a touch screen is utilized for determining the language. In yet another, global positioning satellite system information is utilized to identify the user""s location and, combined with a language map, identifies the language appropriate for that location. In the latter embodiment, of course, an override may be provided for the situation when one meets a Russian speaking person in Japan.
The invention is directed to a hand held (e.g. portable) printing apparatus for printing selectable different types of content, such as a business card, a social card or an identification in selectable languages, including a paper path joining an input port, into which a print medium can be inserted and an output port from which it emerges after printing. A print head, situated along the paper path prints content on a print medium as it traverses the paper path from input port to output port. A language selector specifies the language in which the content is printed. Language selection occurs using a computer which controls selection and printing of particular content. The computer includes memory storing one or more language versions of one or more sets of content. In one form, the printing apparatus includes a magazine containing one or more instances of print medium, such as a plurality of business cards, for sequential printing. Selection of languages for use in printing content can be done using a touch screen display linked to a map relating location and corresponding language. It can alternately be done by using a positioning satellite receiver linked to a map relating location and corresponding language. The computer of the portable printing device is linked to another computer, such as a personal computer, for downloading content to be printed. The link is preferable an infrared communications link.
The invention is also directed to a method of printing content in one of a plurality of languages, including the steps of: storing a plurality of foreign language versions of a particular type of content; selecting one of the foreign language versions of the type of content; and printing the one of the foreign language versions using a portable printer.
The invention is also directed to a method of printing different language versions of the same content on a print medium, including selecting one language version of the content for printing on one side of the medium, selecting a different language version of the content for printing on the other side of the medium; and providing an element for performing the step of printing the version on respective sides of the medium. Selecting can be accomplished by automatically determining the location at which the step of printing will occur and selecting at least one language version based on the location. Alternatively, selecting can be performed by touching a location on a map which corresponds to a country in which the language spoken is the desired language version.
The invention is also directed to a method of loading multiple language versions of particular content into a portable printer, by preparing an example of the content in a first language; sending the example to a translation service for translation into at least one other language; and receiving from the translation service at least one translation of the example and storing it in a portable printer over a communications link, such as an infrared link.
The invention is also directed to a system for loading information into a portable printer for printing including a network; a plurality of computers connected to the network, at least one of which can be connected to the portable printer over a communications link and at least another of is controlled by a translation service; the at least one computers connected to the network including a communications interface for sending the information in one language to the translation service over the network and receiving translated versions of the information back from the translation service; and a communications link between the at least one computer and the portable printer for sending at least one of the translated versions to the portable printer.
The invention is also directed to a computer program product including a memory medium; and a computer program stored on the memory medium, the computer program including instructions for transferring plural language versions of content into memory of a portable printing device. The invention is also directed to a computer program product including a memory medium; and a computer program stored on the memory medium, the computer program including instructions for allowing selection and printing one or more stored plural language versions of content onto a print medium.
Still other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein only the preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.